Rivers Ended 2017 On A Slot Machine High Note

Earlier this month Rivers also had the distinction of being the only casino among the big five to see revenue growth in overall slots in 2017 and in the month of December. That is, according to the latest numbers from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB).

Rivers sees positive growth year-on-year, month-on-month

According to the PGCB’s numbers, Rivers Casino pulled in the third-most slots revenue in the month of December and for the year.

Rivers, on the other hand, saw a 5.85 percent rise in month-on-month revenue. That is the third-highest growth rate among the state’s 12 casinos.

Year-on-year, the casino experienced a 1.77 percent revenue growth. What’s interesting about this increase is that it not only made Rivers the only top-five property to see positive numbers in Dec. 2017 and in 2017, but it was one of only two casinos pulling in $100 million in 2017 to see month-on-month and year-on-year growth. Mount Airy Casino was the other property.

All 12 PA casinos see Dec. growth, yearly decline

While Rivers was the golden boy of among the state’s big earners, smaller casinos like Lady Luck, Valley Forge, and Presque Isle boasted revenue increases of more than 5 percent, 8 percent, and 2 percent, respectively.

Along with healthy growth at Mount Airy and modest gains at SugarHouse and Hollywood Casino, the state’s casinos managed to see a 1 percent increase in revenue compared to Dec. 2016.

That growth was punctuated by the fact that fewer slots were in operation this past month than they were the year before.

“The average combined number of slot machines operating daily was 25,849 in December of 2017 compared to 26,074 in December of 2016,” the PGCB reported.

As for year-on-year growth, casinos saw an overall decline of 1 percent. The numbers PGCB provided seem to indicate that much of that decline was due to the fact that only eight of 12 casinos saw year-on-year revenue increases. Furthermore, only one of the top-eight revenue earners saw increases.

For the year, the state pulled in $1.18 billion in slots tax revenue. Here’s more from the PGCB about where that money goes:

“Tax revenue generated from slot machine gaming in 2017 was $1,188,689,755 with a significant portion of the revenue used for property tax reduction to all Pennsylvania homeowners, strengthening the Commonwealth’s horse racing industry, and funding economic development projects.”

What will 2018 hold for slots revenue?

Heading into 2018, the headlining development in slots will be the implementation of video gambling terminals (video gambling terminals) at truck stops across the state.

The Pennsylvania gambling expansion bill included a provision that allows for up to five VGT’s at qualifying truck stops. It also allows counties to opt out.

At the time of publishing, 10 of 12 counties hosting casinos had opted out.